1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer security, and more particularly but not exclusively to methods and apparatus for combating posting of trackback spam on web logs.
2. Description of the Background Art
Web logs, or simply “blogs,” are web pages maintained by users for a variety of purposes including commentary, as an online diary, news publishing and so forth. Blog postings are typically displayed in a reverse chronological order. Some blogs allow readers to leave comments for display along with the blog. Trackback technology has been developed to allow bloggers to link back to a particular blog, thereby facilitating conversations spanning several blogs that readers can easily follow. Generally speaking, trackback is a form of acknowledgement that allows bloggers to know who has linked to their blog posting. A variety of blogging software follows a trackback protocol.
Although trackback facilitates web communication between bloggers and readers, trackback technology is susceptible to abuse by malicious individuals, collectively referred to herein as “spammers.” Trackback allows spammers to leave links to websites containing “spam,” which includes unwanted, unauthorized, fraudulent, or unrelated content. The spammer website may host not just unauthorized or inappropriate advertisements, but computer viruses as well. Trackback spam not only indirectly boosts search engine ranking of spammer websites but also adversely affects the reputation of the blogger and readers' interest in the blog site. Trackback spam has become too widespread that most bloggers disable trackback, which is unfortunate given the potential of trackback to enrich blogging. What is needed is an effective and easy to implement protective measure against trackback spam.